I have never been shy about my love of historical fiction, but I also recognise that it is not the most popular genre. (Even though I wish it were!) However, with the continual chugging along of BookTok, Bookstagram, and similar communities, it seems like historical fiction is being forgotten and ignored, and that is regrettable for all of us. These stories connect us to the past and even though they are fictional, they very much help us understand the people that came before us. So, I am going to be sharing more historical fiction, both here and on my social media! For this week’s Book Bite, I’ve got an historical fiction novel from one of my favourite authors: it is Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen!
Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl, Renee Rosen
It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm, in this dazzling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Social Graces and Park Avenue Summer.
In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever.
Estée dreams of success and becoming a household name like Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Revlon. Before Gloria knows it, she is swept up in her new friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.
But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, they’ll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.
Why You Should Read This…
Renee Rosen quietly became one of my favourite authors without me even realising it. Her novels all focus on different periods- The Social Graces is set in Gilded Age New York, Park Avenue Summer is set in the 1960s- but always feature the complex lives that women lead, the often-difficult choices that they need to make as fully-fleshed out characters. (I will often be frustrated and irritated with her characters, but that also happens in our actual lives- we do not agree with everything that everyone does!)
I was intrigued by this novel as I know relatively little about Estée Lauder, a name that is clearly still a dominant force in the cosmetics industry. And once I started reading, I was immediately conflicted- neither Lauder nor Downing are squeaky clean characters, they both make unfortunate choices throughout the book. But it was those choices that kept me reading, it makes for a very compelling novel. (If you want to wholeheartedly agree with all of the characters you read, this may not be the novel for you.)
I also very much appreciated that Rosen did not let the Second World War dominate the book. Yes, it is obviously a major world event that affected all areas of life, but we also know that the US was more removed (and a later participant); I felt that that came through accurately in the novel. It also did not sideline the women’s stories for the war, which often happens in novels set in this period.
All in all, I was very much invested in this novel and I love that I was able to immerse myself in their world.
Is Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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